Paul & Rachel's wedding

While we were travelling Paul and Rachel told us that they had chosen a date for their wedding.  They wanted a Spring wedding and decided on Saturday April 30^th 2011.  Little did they know at the time that William and Kate would choose to get married the day before.  When the date of the Royal Wedding was announced we were all a bit taken aback but also relieved that at least they had chosen the day before and not the same date!

As it turned out the Royal Wedding being the day before didn’t impinge on Paul & Rachel’s day in the slightest, although it did add some extra considerations to the planning as the Friday would normally have been the day to pick up hire suits, flowers etc but this was now a Bank Holiday so everything had to be collected a day earlier.

The next surprise was the sale of our house.  We’d delayed putting it on the market until the beginning of March because we didn’t want a house move to get in the way of preparations for the wedding.  We were told by the Estate Agents that we would be very lucky to complete a sale within 3 months so we thought we were safe.  Eight days after putting the house on the market we had buyers who made us a very good offer and who were very keen to move in as soon as possible. 

Fortunately in the end we agreed a completion date of May 20^th which enabled us to focus on the wedding arrangements and leave most of the packing until afterwards.

There are so many things that could go wrong on a wedding day but we are pleased to report that it was, in all respects, a perfect day.  Even the sun shone all day which made it feel more like a summer wedding than a spring one.

We have hundreds of lovely photos from the day – here are just a few to give you an idea of what an amazing day it was.

Blogging again!

The blog is back......and I must admit I have missed writing up the different happenings that Peter and I encounter.

To quickly fill you in on the last 9 months.............

…..............After arriving home in High Wycombe last September we set about revamping the interior of 60 Shelley Road.  By Christmas we had completed the whole of the downstairs including the hall, stairs and landing, and replacing 7 internal doors.  Quite some feat as each door frame had its own peculiarities.

David moved out towards the end of January which enabled us to finish decorating his room properly ( it had been started 3 years earlier when he moved back home, but not completed).

We knew our time in High Wycombe was coming to an end before we went travelling the year before.

With the family growing up and leaving home maintaining the family house with a large garden just for us had lost its appeal and the experiences we have had in the last few years have shown us that you've just got to get on with making your dreams happen.

 We spent December and January agonising as to whether we put the house on the market or rent it commercially.  After receiving some very good advice from friends, family and professionals we decided to sell to move into the next phase of our lives....downsizing to a smaller house but with a decent amount of land to run something a lot different to what we have done already.

We also had Paul & Rachel's wedding at the end of April to look forward to but more about that in another blog entry.

Our year out taught us that we were in a very special situation of being fit and in our fifties, free from secular employment but needing a purpose.  Our faith is governing our purpose as we believe that whatever we move to can and will have facilities which can be used by all to enjoy with us.

We placed all our belongings in storage just over a week ago, followed by the next day a knock on the door by someone who saw a 'white van' outside our house and wondered if we had been burgled.  A little late if we had!!

We left High Wycombe on Friday 20^th May, 27 years and 1 week after we first moved there back in May 1984.

The adventure begins.....and we're calling it “Following the Star”.  A title given to us by a friend who likened our search for a new home to the wise men looking for the New King.  We'll know where it will be once we've found it.

So watch this space all you lovely friends as we share our search with you, highs and lows .